Game



May 15, 1928.

o. KAUPPINN GAME Filed Jan.

n lINVENTOR 012111,

' /Zzks AT @N vw A vm. ems .am ax fau/wlw@ TORNEY Patented May l5, 1928.

UNITED STATES ONNI KAUPPINEN, F NEW YORK, IN'. 4Y.

GAME.

Application filed January 23, 1928. Serial No. 248,670.

This invention relates to an improvement in a game and has for its object to provide an article of this character which shall be of comparatively simple construction and which shall be interesting and educational.

A further object of this invention is to provide a game of the character mentioned wherein considerable skill may be developed in playing it as best results are secured by U practice. My improved game possesses educational features in that it develops the ability to add figures as fast as points are gained while playing the game.

A further object of the invention is to pro- `5 vide a game board which shall be of sturdy construction having but few parts which are not likely to get out of order.

With these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear in view, I have 50 devised the particular arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing. forming a part hereof in which l5 Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved game;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the starting alley; and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the compartment for holding the balls and playing stick.

Throughout the various views vof the drawings. similar reference characters designate similar parts.

In the preferred embodiment of my .mvention as disclosed in the accompanying drawing, 1 indicates the base member of the game which consists of an elongated section of wood, preferably veneered Wood or any other suitable similar material. Provided on the underface of said base member 1 are a plurality of battens 2 which are angularly shaped to hold the board in an inclined position. These battens 2 are provided with rubber knobs 3 upon which the entire board rests. The board is provided with a surrounding wall or edge 4 which may be made of springy or elastic wood or metal. The same is curved or rounded at the end 5 to follow the shape of the board at that end and to cause a ball to follow the curvature of said wall until deflected by an obstacle as will be hereinafter described.

At the opposite end of the support 1 is provided an elongated storage compartment 6 which has two longitudinal side walls 7 and 8 and ends 9 and 10. This compartment 6 is adapted to be closed by a sliding Cover' 11. The compartment 6 is used for contain lng a playing stick 12 and a plurality of balls 13. The balls 13 are preferably of solid metal providing satisfactory weight to enable the same to roll' about 'the board after being projected thereon with considerable force. The stick 12 is provided with a thickened handle portion 14, a reduced Central portion 15 and an enlarged head 16. The inner end of the head 16, where the same joins with the reduced portion 15 provides a shoulder 17, and a similar shoulder` 18 is provided on theV handle part 14.

In order to retain the balls securely and prevent the same from rattling about in the compartment 6, said compartment is preferably made just wide. enough to enable a predetermined number of said balls to fit in place between the wall 7 and the reduced part 15 of the stick 12. Thus, the two shoulders 17 and 18 provided on the stick act to confine a number of these balls between them and prevent said balls from rolling from side to side in the compartment 6.

Extending longitudinally along one side of the base 1 is a starting alley 19 which is formed by an upstanding strip 20 co-operating with the side wall 4. This alley 19 is open at one end as at 21 so that a ball may be projected out of said open end and will find its way out on the board striking against various obstacles thereon and possibly eventually finding its way into one of a series of cups 22 provided in the board.

The upper surface of the base 1 is preferably covered with a soft fabric such as felt 23 and it is provided with a plurality of upstanding pins 24. A number of these pins are arranged to form enclosures 25, 26` 27 and 28. The pins may bearranged in various forms to produce enclosures of different types dependent upon the manner in which the game is intended to be played or the form of structure desired.

In the construction shown, the various enclosures are of circular form, each being provided with an entrance opening 29 through which the ball may enter. Single pins 30 are also placed at random about the surface of the board, and some pins as at 3l and 32 are arranged to form a small enclosure into which the ball might possibly enter, depending upon the course which it takes and in some instances upon the skill of the player. I also provide a number of pins 33 arranged close to the enclosing wall 5 for the purpose of preventing a projected ball from closely following the enclosing Wall 5 and acting to deflect the ball off on an angle out on the surface of the base 1. The alley 19 preferably has its bottom lined with metal 34 and near the enclosed end of said alley, the same 'is provided with a level part 35 that permits a ball to be temporarily supported on it prior to the same being ejected out of the alley onto the surface of the board by manipulation of the playing stick 1Q.

To play the game, a ball diagrammatically illustrated at 13 in Figure 1 is placed on the level part 35 of the alley and the playing stick is grasped in the hand as shown and its rubber tipped end 36 is placed against the ball 13a and the ball is projected out of the open end 21 of the alley by a vigorous thrust of the stick. The ball thus projected rolls out on the surface of the base 1, striking into one or more of the various obstacles appearing on the base and finally finding its way into one of the encloses 25, 2G, 27 or 98 or into one of the cups Q2. In the event that the ball thus projected does not enter into any of the enclosures or cups just mentioned, it finally rolls backward and terminates its movement against the wall 7. It is found desirable to make the pins which form the enclosures and obstacles of spring material so that the same sharply deflect a projected ball, causing the same to move vigorously about the board until it finally lands into one of the enclosures or cups provided.

I am aware that games along somewhat similar lines have been devised but have found that in each of the games of the prior art, the ejected balls have been propelled out on the surface of the board by a springpressed plunger. This has been entirely unsatisfactory, since the element of manual skill was completely absent. The springpressed plunger in such type of game uniformly projected the ball causing it to follow in most' instances a similar path, rendering the game monotonous and uninteresting. In my improved game, the ball is projected out of the playing alley ly a manually manipulated playing stick, whereby the force of the blow required for forcing the ball out of the alley is controlled and may be regulated by the player to suit his individual ideas of playing the game. A skillful player soon determines the exact manner to strike the ball and project it outof the alley to gain the greatest amount of points. As the game may be played in many Ways, no particular manner of figuring points gained need be described.

The various figures appearing upon the base 1 indicate the number of points gained by placing a ball either in an enclosure or in a cup and the game may be played so that the winner is he who secures the greatest number of points or reversely, the one who secures the least number of points. lVhen the game is not being played, the playing stick and balls may be compactly stored away as clearly disclosed in Figure 1 in the compartment and whether any balls are missing can be quickly determined by the fact that a certain amount of balls are required to compactly fit between the shoulders 17 and 18 of the playing stick. Thus, if sufficient balls are not found to fill out the space between these two shoulders 17 and 18, it will be at once apparent that one or more of the balls are missing.

Having described one. embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scopeof the annexed claims.

that I claim is 1. A game board having a base portion, means for holding said portion in an inclined position, a series of enclosures on said base, an alley on said board, said alley having a completely open top and inclined and flat base surfaces, a rollable object adapted to rest on the flat surface of said alley, a stick free of any connection with the board adapted to be inserted in said alley and manually operated from various angles to strike the rollable object to cause the same to be projected out on the base and among the enclosures.

2. A game board having a base, a series of enclosures and obstacles thereon, an alley at one side of said board having an open end leading to the base, a storage compartment at one end of' the hoard for holdingr the insirumentalities used in playing the game. said instrumentalities comprising a playing stick wholly independent of connection with the board and a plurality of rollable objects adapted to he propelled out of the alley and over the face of the board by manual strokes of the stick, said stick having a pair of spaced shoulders adapted to snugly embrace between them a number of the rollable ob jects when such objects and the stick are placed together in the storage compartment. Signed at the city, county and State of New York, this 21st day of January, 1928.

ONNI KAUPPINEN. 

